Deserter's Songs

In the interest of time, and not rambling on negatively, I'll borrow from Hady's reaction to this album: "Disney karaoke". My reaction: "if the Flaming Lips were normal drama kids in HS and didn't have wild ass Steve Drodz". C-

Meh

Boring and inoffensive. I listened to it around 1.5 times skipping around and kept forgetting I had it on in the background.

I’ve heard of Mercury Rev, but had never actually heard them until today. Inoffensive gentle pop with orchestral flair. The music of first four songs had a slow melancholy vibe - the kind of background music to be played after the funeral but before the burial as friends and family mill around the cemetery. (That said, lyrics don’t really fit that vibe: “Holes, dug by little moles, angry jealous Spies, got telephones for eyes”) // The album starts to wake up on “Opus 40” I enjoyed “The Goddess on the Highway” and “The Happy Bird”, but that may be because they were such an improvement over the previous material. There is also a hidden (?) track of art/noise/rock after the end of “Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp”. Unnecessary.

Bit too twee

I really didn't love this album. I thought it was pretty monotonous and not super interesting. It felt like a middle school-esque angst type of album.

Cant really get into this. Ethereal in a weird way.

Some good tracks but veers to much into wacky stuff that gets tiresome.

Blah, didn't enjoy. Didn't like the wobbly theramine noises in a lot of the songs, thought they sounded pretentious.

I'm probably failing on some muso front, but this one wasn't really for me 🙈

Sad, calming but beats felt robotic

meh

Very 'experimental style of music. Definitely not to my taste but if your looking for something quite different then this might be your thing.

Totaal niet mijn smaak maar wel bijzondere pop en stem

Zzzzzz.... Repetitive and boring. There was a reason that I didn’t like this band. Now I remember it

Sounds like the soundtrack to a shitty whimsical movie. Singer's voice is grating.

Couldn’t find a way in.

Bläh

Mercury Rev must have a picture of Robert Dimery shagging a goat or something, makes no sense how else this was deemed an album we must hear before we die

Another album and artist where I am going in blind, I have never heard (of) either. Could this be the one, the unsuspected hidden gem that becomes my new favourite? Well, yet again the answer is absolutely not. After finishing a listen, the main word that comes to mind is irritating, especially the final hidden track that seems like incidental music in a comedy crime thriller from the early 90s. Otherwise my observations are that this band has a very extensive Wikipedia article but I have never even heard of these guys, to the extent that I wondered if they were AI-generated or a fictional band from a movie or something at times. They really sound like a Britpop band trying to sound American, like they are playing a part, especially as (to me) they come across as quite amateur at times and the singing style varies a lot, like you often get with a parody: Falsetto singing on Holes, flat singing on Tonite It Shows, and weird electronic vocal fry on The Funny Bird. Maybe this is all a symptom of them making the "record entirely for themselves, ignoring commercial influences". Overall, I really did not enjoy this. However, it would be a great album title for something Tom Waits or Nick Cave would do.

Not deserted enough

Lousy. So bland.

Huh? Seriously who compiled this list LOL..in my opinion this album is so not special..recognized track 1 the rest super blahhhh

i cant even describe how much i hated this

1. holez - 2 2. tonight - 1 3. end - 1 4. coinz - 3 5. opuz - 0 6. hudzon - 1 7. happy - 1 8. goddezz - 0 9. bird - 0 10. pick - 2 11. delta - 0

DNF - what is this muppets Christmas carol type bullshit dude try again random album generator Seeing as you can’t reverse music ratings I’m cordially making this a REDO of Maverick A Strike, it’s a 5 fucker I love itttt

Was a good listen!! Eclectic AF. Liked the orchestration - lots of midi. Goddess on a Hiway in particular stood out. And then the first half of Delta Sun was a bangerrr. Admittedly the outro was a little bizarre lol

Where to begin? A bland collection of Sufjan-esque duds that sound like the cast recording of a musical no one asked for. A musical, mind you, where all of the songs are from Act I because absolutely nothing happens. This album might work if it was presented as a collection of lullabies but even then the risk of irreversible coma would not be insignificant. They try to ratchet it up to mid-tempo with the last track that I assume is sarcastically labeled a “stomp” but by then it’s way too late. NME named this the album of the year in 1998 which is a surprising way to find out that someone from Mercury Rev’s grandma worked for NME.

Звуковое сопровождение проходного фильма. Знакомство с альбом прошло очень многообещающе. Такой ранний, неотесанный tame impala, предвкушает. что-то ностальгирующее интересное. Ты ждёшь чего-то примерно ещё два трека далее весь альбом для тебя превращается в унылое музыкальное сопровождение развязки драматического фильма-жвачки нулевых. Описание намного интереснее и красочнее того, что я услышал. Долго описывать этот альбом не буду, безусловно можно выделить совсем малые и не очевидные плюсы, но считаю это излишним для оценки в 2.5/10.

2whimsical4me 1/5

Interesting instrumentation by the band but the songs dont stack up. Goddess on a highway is funny and the best of a lot left well alone

1.2/5 Very average album with only a couple of half decent tracks.

Somehow these people got to the end of recording this dreck and said, "Oh yeah; nailed it!"

What in the nonsense did I just listen to? This is a no for me Bob.

Pretentious garbage

I’m glad I never knew this dude before and am no better for knowing him now. I most definitely did not need to listen to this album (or even the 50% of it I did) before I died, fuck sake, give me my 20 mins back.

No no no. I tried 2 songs and I can’t do it but I bet some people love it. 1 star

eww

Day 26 — Mercury Rev — Deserter's Songs (1998) Listened: April 2026 Genre: Psychedelic Rock / Orchestral Indie Rock Vibe: Lush and cinematic but deeply strange — orchestral arrangements wrapped around songs that feel like they're drifting in and out of a dream. Highlights: ★ Opus 40 Impression: Hard to connect with. Weird and slow-moving, and even after four or five listens I never found solid footing. A couple of moments broke through but mostly felt like work. Not my world. Rating: 1.2/5 Keep songs? Yes Revisit album? No

Oh no, I cannot stand the lead singer's voice. I keep wincing every time it breaks or gets thin and raspy on a high note. I was going to say I like all of the other musical elements until I started hearing the spaceship wailing noises in the first track ... safe to say, I am not a fan of this album.

boring couldnt finish tbh

Not for me..

I aggressively do not like this.

Yea nah this pissed me off!

Um, nope.

A few good songs, but the album was all over the place. 1/5

This was bad. I wish I could give it zero stars. I’m embarrassed to have listened to any of it

This was whiny and weird and I like it a lot less than Flaming Lips stuff, which I already generally dislike. I suppose I’ve found my hater niche

Impeccably strange vibes with entirely too much Theremin. Forgettable with an overly synth-y aesthetic (bug, not a feature). DNF.

Warm, dreamlike arrangements built from hushed guitars, glowing strings, soft piano, brushed percussion, and vocals folded gently into the haze move this psychedelic indie album like drifting through a half-remembered fairground at dusk feeling gauzy and inward.

I was completely ready to be pleasantly surprised by this album at the onset of the theremin solo, and then it was brought in again in bad taste. By the awful Beatles pastiche it was written off completely, and from there on it was just unnecessary incoherent rambling with one OK song thrown in the mess. I’m rounding down for this fucking wanker to have wasted my time.

Meh. All the songs were interesting in a purely scientific way but this was not a enjoyable listening experience. I'd definitely rather listen to something else.

I used to get "Goddess on The Hiway" force-fed to me by streaming services, and it is one of the most annoying songs I have ever heard in my life. I had to blacklist it to stop hearing it. No fucking way I'm delving deeper. Reading the reviews likening it to Tripping Daisy and early Flaming Lips only firms my resolve. Horrible.

Guys, if you want to get high on a Friday night and jam out for a few hours in the downstairs rec room, that's cool. That doesn't justify turning it into an album for public consumption.

This was so boring. I am giving it 1 star because you absolutely do not need to hear this before you die, and this list has plenty of BETTER indie rock albums, so we don't need the average ones. Given there are some big omissions on this list, this is unnecessary.

Straight up garbage ngl 2/5

No thanks

I could have done without the reminder that Mercury Rev existed, and “Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp” scared the shit out of me.

Ugh, just no. 1

It's like Strawberry Fields, Pink Floyd's The Wall, and Radiohead had a methed out love child. The combination is so much less than the sum of it's parts. Weird and boring. I do hear sounds that echoed into the later indie rock movement 10 years later, but since I really can't stand indie rock that's not a compliment.

Been trying desparately to think of something possitive to say but for me it was just uninspiring rubbish. 1

A band I’ve heard of but not listened to, so I was looking forward to this. The opening couple of bars was promising! Then he started ‘singing’, and I wished I’d have played the instrumental version I saw in Apple Music. A couple of minutes in and I’ve abandoned the idea of playing the instrumental as the warble on the penny whistle is like finger nails down a chalkboard. I suppose it matched the horrendous wailing of the vocalist. The album just got worse and worse, bottoming out at ‘The Happy End’. It then turned a small corner with the familiar and bearable ‘Godess on a Hiway’ and then the highlight ‘The Funny Bird’. Not enough to lift it to a 2, as there’s far too much experimental out of tune nonsense.

Sounds like a highly sensitive teenager who has the GarageBand skills to make an album, but nothing to say. Stopped my daily streak because I did not want to listen to any more albums like this.

Not as experimental or interesting as it wants to be. The song structures are pretty standard and predictable. I can hear a big Flaming Lips influence, and you’re better off just listening to the Lips if you want this sort of spacey rock done in a compelling way.

boring and unimpressive

Certainly an album of all time

Ähh a little weird. First song and one in the middle goddess on a hiway were good. Otherwise too psychedelic

0/5 Honestly, I was quite surprise surprised to see so many 5/5 reviews. What did I miss?

Kind of like an older flaming lips. 1/5

was interesting in places but lost me when he started that dreadful tuneless whistling. 0 stars for that alone.

Profoundly boring. Like if you tried to make an ambient album but you didn’t give the instrumentation the breadth or interest necessary to evoke any sort of feeling. Also you put really middling vocals over it. I would need to maybe triple my dose of amphetamines to sit through this entire thing and pay it my full attention.

Boring….just boring

Honestly? A tough listen. Giving it two stars because there was at least one song I kind of dug, and I don't know what else is going to be on this list but...man, it's weird sounding stuff. Edit: having now listened to more albums on this list, fuck this album. One star. Who likes this shit? Weird, weird music. Faves: - Holes - Opus 40 - Goddess on a Hiway

I think I am going to write a book ... and call it, "1,001 Albums That You Can Die Happy without Ever Needing To Hear"

All of this high pitched singing / instrumentation is quite grating. Oh wait, is there actually one good song on the album? Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp to the rescue! God dammit why are there Looney Tunes sound effects at the end??? And I was this close to bumping up to a 2. I can see why there is an edited version of this song.

miserable

trash

Oh fuck off. This was like a musical or something. But not a good one. Not for me

More and more I am convinced the author of 1,001... wants to see how much shit we will put up with. A smattering of must have truly great albums to keep hope up. However, my hope is fading. Eight straight days with the best rating a 3, and only one of those. Giving this a 1 star seems generous.

Never heard of these guys before. 1 track in so far and its awful! 2 tracks in... its getting worse. 3 tracks... guess what.... yup... worse even still. 4... I just cant. I give up... I couldn't be more bored.

Deep and dirgey. Not sure I like it.

This might be someone's jam but it ain't mine.

I find this singer's voice intolerable. The music is great. Couldn't finish two songs.

Nothing. Utterly forgettable. By the time I'd finished listening to it I had no idea it even existed.

This album does not fuck. At all. It is entirely possible no album has ever fucked less. Is that a theremin I'm hearing or a glockenspiel? Who gives a fuck. Never ever listening to this shit again.

Eh. Not for me.

- gefiel mir nicht so gut - vor allem die Stimmenlage war einfach anstrengend und ich konnte nicht wirklich in die Musik eintauchen

literally not good idk it sounds like it would be down my alley but it kinda gives christian music energy and also i don’t like this guys vocals but thats just me! It's not often that I zone out to an album and then stir just to turn it the fuck off because that's how much it annoys me. It's probably the most boring rock album I've ever heard.

Retro-vibed pop rock, totally mid tempo and relying on lush arrangements to develop the texture instead of pushing the dynamics, having a hook (goddess on a highway chorus aside) or anything fun like that. Dreamy and dull. The singer's voice annoys me. What if Bruce Springsteen made an album of fairy-tale lullabies? Bass is far and away the best thing about this album and probably all that saves it from one star. Bored. Favourite tracks: Goddess on a Highway, pick up if you're there

Not a fan, a little too alternative for me.

not for me. the vocals werent doing it for me and i found most of the instrumentals boring

Voice is annoying at best

Couldn't listen to this. Not enjoyable

Definite no from me

There is one song I really like on this which is "The Funny Bird", the review is for the rest of it. I think there was some sort of loose constellation of a movement around chamber pop in the 90s (which by then kinda meant any alternative rock that was intentionally trying to exclude any stylistic borrowing from punk) and this record is weirdly one of the most acclaimed, but most banal examples from that whole scene. Same with The Flaming Lips, I really don't click with both bands. So this suffers from the same disease The Flaming Lips do where this record is really big and theatrical sounding and wants you to know how arty it is, but it also has no edge, no passion and no raw emotion to it beyond being this really fussy, manic pixie dream boy musak. Honestly in a way that reminds me of why I don't like Taylor Swift it's like that bad. Both bands also share this same whiny vocal style that sounds almost like Mac Demarco to me; twee and resigned and castrated and dude fuck this I really just wish I was listening to Tindersticks right now instead.

Indulgent. Boring.

O disco apresenta momentos quase brilhantes, revelando uma criatividade e originalidade notáveis. As ideias e a abordagem até parecem ser únicas e capazes de prender inicialmente a atenção. No entanto, o desenvolvimento da sequência das músicas deixando espaços para um aborrecimento.

Bands that sing and play off key are supposed to at least be interesting or inventive in some way but I found this album both bad and boring.

Hated everything about this. See some people comparing to the Flaming Lips, who i actually typically like. And strangely I can see the similarities but still really hated this one.

when they included melodies from The Lord's Prayer in their song, they lost me.

Not sure what this is. It sounds like a really really really bad version of the Flaming Lips. I have zero idea how this made the list.

This is an absolutely miserable effort at making music. I read a bunch of 5 reviews and feel like there cannot be any doubt I am being gaslighted. I love music. I am a musician. This is some really bad cringeworthy crap and I shudder at the type of person that finds joy and meaning here.

Goddam is this ever fucking awful

Grrrrrr

he geil wiedermol 90er indie shit. lang her. sini stimm erinneret mich a jede ander 90er Indie sänger. song isch no schön. sehr joo nostalgie jo weischno früener. hass wiener de hoch ton nie richtig trifft. aaah das het de glich producer wie the soft bulletin. nöd es guets zeiche. tonite it shows macht de whimsical shit. iiii shit dasch nöd guet. aaah ich mag das nöd. ich checks aber s isch kritiker:inne musig aaah wiso macht bi endlessly d flöte plötzlich "schlaaaf in himmlischer ruh"? oke da mue bewusst sii. hass so lärm interludes wo nüt mached. opus 40 tönt wieder wie en song. coools schlagzüg es passiered sache finds super. mag sini stimm würkli nöd aber i dem kontext funktioniert sie gad. eeebdlich hudson line hett chli seele mannn würkli sie chönd jo musig mache. AH DEFÜR TÖNT THE HAPPY END WIE MINI ALPTRÄUM ALS CHIND COOL. ich hasses extrem fest. goddess on a hiway isch chli chilliger i guesss aber puh. happy end huere schlimm kei ahnig. NME het gfunde s seg s beste album vom johr 1998. demfall e scheissjohr oder es sind afoch pretentious musigkritiker:inne. das lusdige vogul. find nöd so lusdig. er will chli john lennon sii mit de stimmverzerrig. finds zwor besser als woner falsch gsunge het aber jo. nöd geil. pick up if you're there isch meh athmosphäre wieder. meh. nöd so geil. delta sun bottleneck stomp het ENDLICH wieder mol rhythmus. es sind immerno die sloppy-indie blöser debii die hetmer möse haa ide 90er. aber s het ab und zue e e gitarre und e kickdrum und es macht eigentli spass zum lose.

I just can't.

Out-of-tune singing, empty sentimentality

This felt like punishment.

The mystical aspect in Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs was very beautiful! The album started off in such a nice way, and I was reminded of Lana Del Rey’s elegance and airy vibe. But then there was the baffling creative decision of continuous otherworldly sounds. These two layers contradicted each other and nothing was enjoyable. What I'm saying is that Mercury Rev had a lot of potential and they squandered it. This was 44 minutes wasted!

Muito melancolico pro meu gosto

Is it interesting? Yeah, sorta. Do I want to hear it again? No! Am I happy I heard it once? I'd be the same person if I never heard it. I'm gonna say even for something a bit interesting, absolutely nothing stood out enough to make me think I'll remember it in an hour.

The 90s were weird.

Happy to desert this crap.

Dull

Nei, gat ekki klárað. Algjört drep.

Couldn't finish. Nothing here for me. Vocals are annoying.

You know how the Arcade Fire sucks real bad???? Well this is the Arcades Fire Original Gangsta group and they suck as well but with a mix of Republika. Nothing special about the album very monotonus until the last song but as the song Godess says I know it aint going to last and I couldnt be happier. Slow mellow depressive album not bad really bit not my jam.

somebody kill me!!!! soul crushingly lame I'm sure this was a thrilling release for people working at advertising firms!!!

This was incredibly boring. Just strings and synths behind someone who listened to far too much Bob Dylan.

This sounds like the flaming shit's horrible work and for that reason it will get the same score as them.

Tim Burton ass soundtrack

Leave it to critics to choose hot garbage made by absolute nobodys. A lot of the songs sound like they're made for kids? I just have no idea what I was supposed to feel listening to that. Uncomfortable. That's how I felt.

listened, did not like

Kacke

Not my cup of tea, don’t really know what I can describe them. They went really abstract on some of their songs which I really don’t like

Meh.

Tja, hier krijg ik dus echt een slappe van, hè?

Vokalen va ganske irriterande, og musikken va for disneyete

Jonathan Donahue, frontman of Mercury Rev is quoted as saying "The world wasn't exactly waiting for another Mercury Rev record." Well, there was probably a reason for that.

Pretentious and whiny

No thanks

„The world wasn't exactly waiting for another Mercury Rev record“ sagte der gesanglich leidlich talentierte Frontman, dessentwegen ich das Album vorzeitig ausmachen musste, über dieses Album und trifft damit den Nagel auf den Kopf. Wer vom NME ausgerechnet DAS für das Album des Jahres gehalten hat, stellt damit seine Tontaubheit unter Beweis.

Eh. It's indie music and not good. I was happy when it was over. Better than a one, not really a two. I will round down

I skipped through the first three songs before throwing in the towel. Life's too short to listen to this album.

Awful

This didn't do much for me. It's pleasant music and all, but just wasn't the right mood for me today. And what's with the saws?

Not my type of music. Two songs stuck out to me, and I might revisit them. The rest didn’t work for me.

I thought this one was kind of dookie. The only song I thought was decent was Funny Bird. Was really rough listening to this, it felt like i was stuck in the back rooms and this was playing eternally and my ears where just becoming more def. (I’m sorry, meant no offense, just not my cup of tea) are these reviews public? Or just for our group? The world will never know.

Two thumbs way down. Not a fan.

Not my style. There were a couple beats I enjoyed in a couple songs, but overall I just didn't enjoy this one.

I get the relationship of this band and its era, but it wasn't great enough to be included in this list.

It's a lovely story that Mercury Rev were three albums in and not finding the success they hoped for before recording "Deserter's Songs" as a "let's-go-out-on-our-own-terms" moment. They were ready to give their dreams up, and then "Deserter's Songs" was a surprise hit and it kept them going. The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, who's band was recording in the same studio at the same time, said that "Their audience had gone away, and all they could do was make the music that was in their dreams." I'm glad they got to continue bringing their dreams to life, but some of their dreams are my nightmares. Was there a singing saw used in multiple songs? Why!?

I am rarely (never?) tempted to go track by track in a review. But this album has so many different reasons to hate it, it's impressive so let's take this journey shall we? Holes - The beginning screams Coldplay but like a crappier version of Coldplay...oh wait, is that a saw? wtf? Tonite It Shows - It sounds like a song from a musical for a character who is like walking alone but then comes to some big realization. It feels very theatrical...but sung by someone who can't quite hit the notes. Endlessly - Is that the saw again? Is that a chorus of people trying to sound like the saw? I Collect Coins - Like an old timey jukebox running out of power and going slowing out of tune Opus 40 - oh! this song doesn't suck...wait, why are they dragging out the end so much? stop ruining this! Hudson Line - dear god the 80s saxophone and just 10 extra seconds of a single high pitch at the end. Why?! The Happy End (The Drunk Room) - Is the drunk room in a creepy funhouse? What is with the weird stop in the middle where I was blissfully relieved it was over, but no! Goddess on a Highway - oh! a second song that doesn't suck, let's try not to ruin this one at the end. The Funny Bird - NOW you are self-conscious about your voice and singing through some voice distortion box? why now? Oh good, let's end this song with a bunch of random noise. Pick Up If You're There - I didn't hate this one even though it was a little like a funeral dirge...until that effing saw sound again, and then for some reason an unintelligible answering machine message. Seriously, now you guys are just fucking with people, laughing at what they will listen to and call it music. Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp - I don't have a huge problem with this song. But it's way too little, way too late....oh wait, 3:50 seconds in it ends and becomes a hidden terrible track that again sounds like the backing to a bad musical that happens in a creepy funhouse. 2.5 not crappy songs are not enough to pull this out of 1 star territory. Also they made me spend all this time listening to the songs again so I could write this review and I am spiteful about that.

Really weird album with the wailing synthed woman voice in a lot of songs. I don’t like this.

Too slow for my taste. Like a slower version of a Coldplay album.

I really didn’t like this. The singing was terrible. I can’t believe this drivel is on this list.

Gave up on this one after 5-6 songs. Another one i can't understand someone saying you must listen to this before you die.

Couldn’t finish it. Was realllllllly boring

Did not enjoy

Almost unlistenable... First song is ok, but it's a downhill slide of meandering random harmonies after that.

not really my speed

First album I couldn't finish. A couple songs were okay, but not strong enough to redeem the album. It feels like TV music

Sé qué es un clásico y la madre pero a mí me dejo casi todo muy indeferente. Me gustaron 4 canciones.

A struggle. Like a poor man’s Flaming Lips

This is a tough album to listen to. I find the vocals almost unbearable to enjoy, that being said musically some of the songs arrangements sound fantastic. A couple songs belong in the background of a Zelda game and others, an 80s adult film (Hudson Line). I’ll likely never listen to this album again unless it’s playing in the next shop I have to buy a new tunic from in Zelda.

Album starts as a unique indie song that is good. Everything after that is nothing special and a bit too indie for my taste. Overall not really pleased. 2.9/10

God awful. Can sort of see what they were trying achieve, I think. Picked up a bit midway through, but really overall just not interested in this. Not for me. 1/5

Good dream pop, but nothing really special. Nice fundation to the genre

Crap

Poor Mans Dark Side Of The Moon. Was stoned and had to turn it off due to it annoying the ever living shit out of me. The screeching and horrible attempt at "Alien" sound or whatever you call it was an unwelcome experience. Would not recommend.If i could give 0 stars I would

1 2 3 I don't could listen to this album. I got really bored.

too indie, not enough rock, didn't like it.

not my thing

Medioker

Good ambience on a few songs, like the intro “Holes”. Most other songs didn’t grab my attention.